Archaeology Staff Officer

Works Begin on 32 million NIS Plan to Turn Ancient Site of Sebastia into an Israeli Tourist Site

The Israeli Ministry of Heritage announced yesterday the commencement of excavation and conservation work at the archaeological site of Sebastia, located north of Nablus in the West Bank. The announcement marks the...

Knesset Deliberations on Annexationist Archaeology Bill to Continue; Conference on Archaeology in “Judea and Samaria” opens in Jerusalem

Knesset Committee to Deliberate Bill to Expand Israel Antiquity Authority’s Jurisdiction into the West Bank The proposed legislation to extend the Israel Antiquities Authority’s (IAA) Jurisdiction into the West Bank will...

Open Letter

Open Letter to my Academic Colleagues Participating in “The First International Conference on Archaeology and Site Conservation of Judea and Samaria” Download as a PDF Last weekend, I found a...

Alert: Military issues order to seize land at summit of ancient site of Sebastia

Yesterday (July 24th, 2024) we learned that the Israeli army has issued (on July 10th, 2024) an order to seize 1.3 dunam at the archaeological site of Sebastia in the...

Cabinet Decision to Allow Israeli Civil Administration Jurisdiction at Heritage Sites in Area B of the West Bank

July 4, 2023 Cabinet Decision to Allow Israeli Civil Administration Jurisdiction at Heritage Sites in Area B of the West Bank The recent reports in the Israeli media about the...

Annexationist Agenda Informs Developments at Antiquity Sites in the oPt and other updates

General Introduction Over the past several months, we have been monitoring a proliferation of activities to expand and deepen Israeli control at several antiquity sites in the West Bank. These the include declaration...

The IAA lead excavation in Area C in possible violation of International Law

In March, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and the Staff Officer for Archaeology (SOA) in the Israeli Civil Administration (ICA) led a public excavation of the Murba’at Caves at the...

Suspension Bridge,Expropriations for Jerusalem Cable Car and West bank Developments

* Suspension Bridge over Hinnom Valley Opened to the Public • Expropriations for Jerusalem Cable Car Approved • SOA Conducts Enforcement Activities at Tel Aroma in Area B • Red...

Settlers Backed by army and Civil Administration lead illegal excavation in Area B of the West Bank

In June under cover of the recent round of violence, settlers accompanied by the army conducted an illegal excavation on Mount Ebal/el Burnat (designated as area B) near the Palestinian town...

Israel’s 37th Government’s Foreseen Policies for Heritage Sites in East Jerusalem and the West Bank

To download the paper as a PDF document click here    Introduction Last week, Sunday, January 29th, a government decision formalized a coalition promise to Itamar Ben Gvir’s party to transfer the...